He Restores My Soul (Psa 23:1)
God’s restoration means that He brings us back to a state of new strength, vigor and eternal perspectives. When we allow the Lord to restore us, He rebuilds and repairs our fraid nerves, worried mind and worn out bodies. God’s word, His Spirit and the presence of Christ brings joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control in exchange for self-destructive fleshly tendencies. Without God’s restoration we will quickly give in to discouragement, destructive attitudes and temptations. Explore how to allow the Lord to restore you emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Illustration: Dr. J. Elder Cumming contended that "in almost every case the beginning of new blessing is a new revelation of the character of God--more beautiful, more wonderful, more precious."
J.O. Sanders, Enjoying Intimacy with God, Moody, p. 14.
Illustration:
Compared with salamanders and starfish, mammals have a dismally limited ability to replace lost parts. But now reports of children growing back finger tips and spleens are changing that.
In 1974, Cynthia Illingworth, an English physician specializing in emergency medicine, discovered that when children accidentally sever the finger tip (down to the first joint), the best treatment is no treatment. Cleaned and covered with a bandage, the finger tip, including the nail, grows back. In 11 or 12 weeks the new finger tip usually looks as if nothing had happened to it.
There seem to be three requirements for regrowth: the patient must be under 12 years old, the cut must be above the crease of the first joint, and surgeons must keep hands off the injury. Any operation performed on the finger destroys its ability to grow back. The last condition is the hardest to accept, admits Dr. Michael Bleicher, a pediatric surgeon at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.
Reader’s Digest, March, 1980.
1. RESTORES THROUGH REVERENCE - When we worship the Lord He revives our heart as Jesus promised, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst...The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:13,14,23,24) Allow the Lord to restore your emotionally, mentally and spiritually through worshiping the Lord personally, devotionally and corporately. Praise God for His kindness, mercy and gracious sufficiency regardless of your circumstances and find out that He is more than enough for all your needs.
Illustration: I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. If it were possible for a created soul fully to ’appreciate,’ that is, to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme blessedness. To praise God fully we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God, drowned in, dissolved by that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression. Our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds.
C.S. Lewis.
2. RESTORES THROUGH REMINDERS - The Lord reminds us of all the good blessings we have in Christ. Paul wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Eph. 1:3) Paul wrote to Timothy, "Remember Jesus Christ." Often people burn out or wear out or grow weary because they have forgotten to consider Him who endured such suffering of sinnners against Himself, lest we become weary and lose heart. For we have not resisted to the point of shedding of blood in our battle against sin. (Heb. 12:2-4)
3. RESTORES THROUGH REPLENISHING - The Lord refuels us with new strength, energy and vitality every moment of the day. "They who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will run and not be weary and walk and not faint." (Isa 40;31) Take time to replenish your mind with what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, admirable and praise-worthy. (PHil. 4:8) Many people allow their spiritual batteries to run low because they have not taken time or effort to discipline themselves for godliness through personal devotions every morning and evening. Even Jesus needed spiritual replenishing every morning. Mark 1:35 says, "While it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a lonely place and there He prayed."
4. RESTORES THROUGH RESOLVING CONFLICTS - Praise God that he brings resolution to many interpersonal conflicts. "A harsh word stirs up anger, but a soft word turns away wrath." (Prov. 15:1) Put away anger, jealousy and put on a heart of compassion. Kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, forgiving one another just as God in Christ has forgiven you." (Eph. 4:28-32) There is no conflict that God cannot resolve if you will delight yourself in the Lord, commit your way to Him and He will bring things to pass. (Psa 37:3-5)
5. RESTORES THROUGH RELIEF GIVING - Praise God that He relieves our financial, social and spiritual burdens of our life. The one who relieves us of stress does through the perfect peace that passes understanding as we give everything over to Him through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving. (Phil. 4:6,7)
Illustration: A relief pitcher is called in when the starter loses the zip in his fast ball or the bend in his curveball. God relieves us exactly when we need to be at our best and always gives us victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.
6. RESTORES THROUGH REMEDIES - Only the Lord knows the exact rememdies that need to be applied to our particular problem. He prescribes the solutions for whatever problem we may be facing if we will only take time to listen to Him through His word and time in prayer. He has a way of turning every negative situation in to an opportunity to work all things together for good through His mighty power, processes and pathways. His remedies ready you for any challenge as there is no sickness that God cannot heal. He restores us so we can serve Him better, become more like the Master and turn away from any bitterness that limits our relationships.
7. RESTORES THROUGH RELEASE GIVING - The Lord knows how to break the chains that bind us with fear, anger or trouble. Too many people are in bondage to their addictions because they have not sought the Lord to deliver them from all of their fears and problems. (Psa 34:1-4) David wrote, "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord, the humble will hear it and be glad. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all of my fears, apprehensions and inhibitions. Allow the Lord to release you from whatever is hindering you from growing up in all aspects into Christ. Immaturity will continually limit you from going, being and doing all of God’s will.
8. RESTORES THROUGH RESTRAINTS - Praise God that He restrains us from evil. He restrains us from yielding to temptations as promised in I Cor. 10:13, "He provides a way of escape so that you can bear up under any temptation." He is the restrainer of all types of evil, harm and danger that might seek to be-devil us. Too many of us take for granted all the ways that the Lord’s restraint shield us from evil. David wrote, "The Lord is my strength and shield, my hearts trust in Him and I am help. "Therefore, I will leap for joy and will give thanks to Him in song." (Psa 28:7)
9. RESTORES THROUGH REFOCUSING - We can reinvigorate our mind, emotions and spirit when we sing of the Lord’s lovingkindness and make known His faithfulness. By reflecting upon His proper priorities then we will have a better macroscopic and microscopic perception on who we are, what He wants us to do and what He ways us to say. Without His refocusing we tend to drift in to maintenance orientation that is nothing more than a survival or pleasure mode of those who are in the world.
10. RESTORES THROUGH RE-POSITIONING - He repositions us in the heavenly places in Christ. He alone has the ability to put us in a position that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. When others are weak, He makes us strong by positioning us with supernatural gallantry. When others are in positions of compromise He teaches us to flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love and peace with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Tim 2:22-24) When we are in the Christ directed positions, both spiritually and practically, then we are enabled to do greater things as Jesus promised, "He who believes in me the works that I do will He do also and greater things will He do because I go to the Father and you can ask anything in my name and I will do it so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." (John 14:12-14)
Illustration: In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life.
For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work. J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20, "How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.
Ernest B. Beevers.
